Neuroglobin and neuroprotection: the role of natural and synthetic compounds in neuroglobin pharmacological induction

Abstract

Neuroglobin (Ngb) is a 17 kDa monomeric hexa-coordinated heme protein belonging to the globin family. Ngb is mainly expressed in neurons of the central and peripheral nervous system, although moderate levels of Ngb have been detected in non-nervous tissues. In the past decade, Ngb has been studied for its neuroprotective role in a large number of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, brain ischemia and hypoxia. This review discusses and summarizes the natural compounds and the small synthetic molecules capable of modulating Ngb expression that exhibits a protective role against various neurodegenerative diseases.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Huntington’s disease; Neuroglobin; natural compounds; neurodegenerative diseases; neuroglobin pharmacological induction; neuroprotection; synthetic small molecules.

Figure 1

X-ray crystal structure of human Ngb (PDB code: 4MPM). Graphical representation of the two Ngb monomers (A and B) in the asymmetric unit, light green and light orange respectively. A, B, E, F, G and H α-helices, forming the classical 3/3 sandwich are labelled in both monomers. The hexacoordinated heme group is coloured in violet (Monomer A) and light pink (Monomer B), His64 and His96 are coloured in red. In both monomers, the disulfide bridges located in the CD loop/D helix are labelled. CD loop: The loop between the helices C and D; Ngb: neuroglobin.